Gabriel Bortoleto terms F1 Belgian GP as a solid one after points results, as Nico Hulkenberg expands why second stop was necessary.
For once, it looked like a crazy turnaround for Sauber’s Hulkenberg again in F1 Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps when the German was up to ninth and ahead of teammate Bortoleto. But his chances diminished when the Brazilian showed better pace in their pursuit of Lawson.
Eventually, the team opted for team orders where Bortoleto got ahead to chase the Kiwi. He stayed on his tail for long, but couldn’t get through after Lawson had just a bit of extra pace to stay ahead. The idea was to give back the place if possible, but Hulkenberg dropped long way back.
In fact, he took a second stop which diminished any chance. Bortoleto was pleased with how his weekend panned out after he eked his second points result. The Brazilian noted that he took a cautious approach on his pit stop after what happened to him in Silverstone. He waited to see what others were doing. “Yeah, it was a solid weekend,” he said to media.
“I was in the Top 10 and I feel really glad, we did everything we could. I think I extracted I had everything from the car, it was very difficult to catch Lawson. I think he had a very good pace and managed his tyres as well. He was one tenth per lap quicker that made him finish P8. I want to say I am happy about the weekend, there is nothing else I could have done. Regarding the pit stop, it was his [Hulkenberg] call.
“I mean after Silverstone, where I pitted so early, I was not bothered to try something again and risk something, so I waited to see how the slicks were doing and to be honest, I gave the call even before how the slicks were going because my inters were completely gone and I was sideways everywhere, so I said ‘guys I need to pit’, anyway, at the same time they were on the radio that ‘slicks were doing well, come to pits’.
“So, I think we did everything good and pitting a lap later was not something bad, maybe a lap early was going to perfect but the risk you need to take or not and I decided to not take it and do everything I could,” summed up Bortoleto, who was grateful that Hulkenberg adhered to the team orders’ call. He praised the team work, noting the previous races where he has set himself aside.
“Obviously, there were races where he was faster than me and I let him pass,” said Bortoleto. “This time I just felt I could catch Lawson somehow or put a little pressure on him. I told the guys, ‘if he lets me pass, and I don’t get Lawson again and he’s still close to me, I’ll let him pass back, I don’t mind’. But I passed him, I didn’t manage to overtake Lawson but I was on his gearbox for super long.
“And then Nico dropped a bit and did a second pit stop and the position was that one. But he was a very good teammate, like he always is to be honest and we have a very good atmosphere in the team in that sense,” summed up Bortoleto. On Hulkenberg’s side, the downforce level was one of the key reasons for the German to set aside and opt for a second stop.
He reckoned there was no way he could have kept Pierre Gasly behind. He hoped to recover after drop off for others, but it didn’t happen eventually. “In a way yes because my front tyre was giving up in that first stint and I was picking a lot of front locking and understeer, I don’t think I would have survived to stay in front of Pierre in that group, given also that we were on higher downforce and he was on lower downforce,” said Hulkenberg to media.
“Once he got into my wake, he got closer and closer, I would have been a sitting duck there. So, that’s why I called for a second stop and tried to recover which obviously didn’t happen. We thought and we had the chance but you never know, obviously, that also with the DRS train, it didn’t make it easier but 15 laps to the end, you think that maybe the DRS train dissolve and once you get there it would be different but it wasn’t. It was just the usual racing stuff.”
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